Stronger Than You
by BamfIsAwesome
Summary: Weak. Pathetic. Fool. That's what Ishida is, what he always will be. And... he knows it.


**FIRSTEST EVER BLEACH FANFIC! WOOT! *ahem* Uryū and Ryūken, my idea of what would happen if Uryū were to turn around and really, **_**really**_** give his father a piece of his mind. This is set sometime after he regained his Quincy powers but before Hueco Mundo. As such, it might be slightly AU.**

"Fool." There were times when Uryu wondered if his father knew any words other than that and 'pathetic'.

"You can't differentiate between battles you can and can't win; you just throw yourself in and hope for the best. You're as impulsive and foolish as that Kurosaki boy!" He only barely refrained from informing Ryuken of just how many battles had been won by Kurosaki in that manner against foes such as Kuchiki Taicho and a Menos Grande.

"You associate with _shinigami_, of all people, even calling some of them your _friends._" Again, Uryu had to bite his tongue. _So, you acknowledge that they're actually __**people**__, eh?_

"You are weak." Oh, and that word. That was a popular one. "You can't deliver the final strike. You hesitate to harm me, despite the fact that I could and _would _kill you."

_Could you?_ The words echoed in Uryu's head. _Would you?_

And he couldn't keep his errant mouth shut anymore.

"If trying to preserve life; _all_ life," he glared pointedly at his father here, "and believing it has some kind of _significance_ is foolishness, then a fool I will gladly be!" He snapped. Ryuken went to deliver one of his cutting, biting remarks, eyes dull and disappointed, but Uryu shamelessly and fearlessly cut him off. "No, Ryuken. No; I am not weak, and I am not pathetic. You are."

He had only just made this revelation, literally as it came from his mouth. His father didn't seem to appreciate this epiphany much, but he'd started and there was no way in hell he was stopping for anything or anyone- not for a Hollow attack, not for his friends, not for Yamamoto Sotaicho, and most certainly not for Ryuken.

"You're a control freak. You don't give half a damn about whether I live or die, but you insist on interfering in my life anyway. Well guess what; I don't belong to you and you can't control me anymore! My _entire life_ has been shaped by your inability to accept things and move on." Ryuken knew where this was going, and Uryu knew he might not finish before he had an arrow through his chest again, but he ploughed on regardless. _One part brave, three parts fool._ "Okasan's death may have hurt you a hell of a lot more than it hurt a three-year-old, but you're not the only human in existence to lose someone they loved. Quite the opposite, in fact! But you _are_ about the only one who let yourself get stuck in that moment and ceased to care about _anything. _You barely count as human anymore! You're a shell, and I pray to whatever higher power or providence is out there that I will _not_ end up like you; you're no better than a Hollow! Heartless, empty and cruel!"

Ryuken's spirit bow was in his hand, and Uryu had to be honest; anyone else would've pissed themselves by this point. Other than helping his regain his Quincy powers, the older man had never actually harmed him, though that could easily change. He was paying a great deal of attention to the cold, dangerous fire in his father's eyes. At least it was some kind of half-emotional reaction.

"I watched ojichan die. I watched him _killed_, after he had been my sensei and the only person to show me any affection for years! He comforted me when I was afraid or hurt, he taught me how to cook, to fight, to _care._ You tell me you thought I'd 'been raised better'- well I was, but it sure as hell wasn't by _you!_ He was the single most important person in my whole life, and I watched him murdered!"

Uryu took a breath, and a moment to realise he hadn't been shot yet. He wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.

"But I didn't do what you did. I didn't let my life end with his. Instead, I tried to _do something_ with it, something meaningful! That is not pathetic. What you did, _that_ was pathetic! _You_ were too _weak_ to pick up the pieces and move on. _You_ were too _afraid_ to get up and carry on without her. Well here's a newsflash for you; _I did!_ I picked up the pieces of my heart, of my _life_, which was now even colder and lonelier and harsher than it was before, and I _carried on._ I fought all of my battles alone, dealt with the cold harsh wasteland of my life alone, experienced death and pain and sickness _alone._ Because the only person who cared was dead, the whole fight stuck in my head on replay, and you were too cold and dead to even bring yourself to care that your _father_ had been _murdered_ and that your _eight-year old son_ had _watched!_"

Uryu breathed deeply, calming himself down and studying the man before him. Ryuken's anger had dissipated, leaving a blankness that didn't even bear his usual deep-etched frown.

"I'm stronger than you. And you know what? For years I've wanted to hate you, turn around and yell 'screw you' right in your face. But now?" He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Even faced with years of your cold, unyielding heartlessness, I was able to walk away and find friends. I've fought with them and for them. I've laughed at them and with them. Inoue-san even insisted I get dragged with them on a picnic once. I forget about you during those times. Good times, bad times, hard times, fun times… they're better than the times spent with you, even the worst times. I'm… I'm happy with them, with my life. You… there's nothing I can do for you, and you don't want me to try, so I have no choice but to leave you behind with the past."

Uryu started to turn away, to head back to his apartment and finish his new Quincy outfit. "You're not happy. You never will be. And I pity you."

Ryuken just stood and stared at the spot where Uryu had been standing, even long after he had disappeared from view. By the time he had started to head back to his own home, it had started to get dark. It wasn't a surprise to find that he couldn't bring himself to care.

_I will learn to love again_

_I will learn to trust_

_Once this heart can start to mend_

_I will learn to love again!_

_~KACI_


End file.
